they said he came to houston to see the quality of the TC, to see if it was "up to par" to host the alstar game.
http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/sports/2174147 Oct. 22, 2003, 10:54PM NBA's best will shine in Houston Stellar weekend forms trifecta with NFL, MLB events By JONATHAN FEIGEN Copyright 2003 Houston Chronicle New Orleans is known for the French Quarter, Los Angeles for the celebrities. New York is the city that never sleeps. But Wednesday, Houston took another giant leap toward becoming a destination city for professional sports' marquee events, landing the NBA All-Star Weekend. NBA commissioner David Stern, describing himself as "beaten down" by the Rockets' carping, said Wednesday the event will be sent to Houston. "We're definitely coming," Stern said. "The only question will be when." Though Stern said he did not know when the three days of events would fill the George R. Brown Convention Center and Toyota Center, the Rockets had bid for the 2005, 2006 and 2007 events. The 2005 All-Star Weekend has already been awarded to Denver. The All-Star Weekend is the latest major sports event to be headed to one of Houston's three new sports facilities. The biggest, the Super Bowl, will be held at Reliant Stadium on Feb. 1, 2004. Major League Baseball's All-Star Game will be at Minute Maid Park next summer. In addition, Houston will host the NCAA men's basketball Final Four in 2011 at Reliant Stadium. NBA officials toured Houston facilities last spring and again this month, describing Toyota Center as well-suited for demands of the event. Stern described the Rockets as "all over us. We made them back off at least until the building came out of the ground. "Oh man, they're tough," he said. "I think Les (Alexander, the Rockets' owner) holds me and George (Postolos, the Rockets' president) jumps me. But it's a pleasure because they're fighting for their city." Stern said the league does not estimate the economic benefit to host cities, but that recent host cities have reported roughly $50 million of income generated by the game and its related events. "It's the largest NBA event of the year," Alexander said. "People come from all over the world, and this is a world-class city. "It does wonders for the city. The city can be proud about drawing fans from all over the world. It's great." New Orleans and Charlotte are also expected to compete for the next All-Star weekends to be awarded. For the Rockets, landing the All-Star Game for the first time since 1988 is a coup that they had aggressively sought since winning the arena referendum that allowed the city to build Toyota Center. The Rockets had pushed so hard that late in the 2001-2002 season, Stern said, "I told George to back off, just back off."
Sweet. I was actually at the last All Star game in Houston back in '89. It was great...except Karl Malone won the MVP. Now let's get the Final Four in H-town and we'll be set.
We all need to remember that Dallas and SA are also bidding to get the All-Star game and they have had their new arenas 1 and 2 years ahead of us. Don't be surprised if they get the game b4 we do. It already sux that the NBA switches from east to west every year, so it might be awhile. Plus, you also have to consider the fact that the NBA might not want to keep coming back to Tejas every single odd year the west holds the All-Star game. As well as New Orleans! I hate to be the man of pessimism here but we might be in a long wait for the All-Star game to arrive. Although I really want it to come here very bad tambien!
I wouldn't mind taking a Friday off to see some NCAA regional tourney action. Can't you get four games for the price of one ticket, or is it two?
I went to that game, at the dome. I was in the cheap seats ($25.00). Must have been sitting a half mile away from the court. I left at half time, so I could go watch it at home. I thought I could make out Kareem, and maybe even Jordan, but I wasn't sure.
Looks like jmwilliamson and David Stern have something in commen http://bbs.clutchcity.net/php3/showthread.php?s=&threadid=65970&perpage=40&pagenumber=2
